Transitioning the NWS Forecaster Warning Workflow to Hazard Services Convective

For over a year, the software team within the National Weather Service (NWS) Warning Decision Training Division (WDTD) has been developing training for convective Hazard Services. This new suite of operations within phase 3 of the Hazard Services Roadmap contains warning issuance products for short-fuse hazards (e.g., severe thunderstorm warning, tornado warning, etc.) and airport weather warnings, including a partial county alerting capability. Previous phases of Hazard Services include Hydrology, Non-Precipitation, and Winter, all of which have introduced different workflows to manage both long and short-fuse hazards and warning generation. The upcoming version 4 of Hazard Services builds off past phases by adding a new short-fuse capability for convective-related hazards that utilizes the storm track tool to generate the hazard. The essence of the new workflow is to run the storm track tool and select a hazard type first, as opposed to creating a generic area and then changing the hazard type. Overall, the biggest challenge forecasters will face is to quickly develop new muscle memory for the stresses of warning operations where hazards need to be generated quickly.

For the convective Hazard Services training currently used in the AWIPS Test Authorization Note (ATAN) — 12 WFOs who volunteered to test the forecaster training and new software’s capabilities in an operational setting — WDTD has implemented a new hands-on learning approach using a cloud instance with an archived case, so forecasters practice using Hazard Services with meaningful data as they learn about the new behavior using follow-along videos. Plans for the future operational rollout include scaling the current cloud training access to 2200+ forecasters and developing an optional case library of short refresher exercises for each of the hazard types. Jobsheets and refresher graphics are also planned to complement the existing library of Hazard Services proficiencies videos.